Complete 11 page APA formatted essay: MENTAL HEALTH( Anorexia Nervosa).Download file to see previous pages... Of critical importance here are the conscious and unconscious levels. Substantial amounts

Complete 11 page APA formatted essay: MENTAL HEALTH( Anorexia Nervosa).

Of critical importance here are the conscious and unconscious levels. Substantial amounts of mental activity that occur beyond our awareness are believed to determine much of our behaviour. Human development is important in this respect since a person's early experiences can produce a particular gestalt or view of the person and their world, which they will take with them into adult life. This gestalt will include mental tricks and mechanisms to protect the person's sense of self. This is what is called mental health or mental well being, and when problems arise in this gestalt that human being necessarily clings to, is at odds with the real circumstances, finds as adults, it gives rise to mental illness. The behavioural model of mental health on the other hand has a scientific basis in Learning Theory. Symptoms are considered to be learned habits arising from the interaction between external events or stressors and an individual's personality. Persistent, distressing symptoms are considered maladaptive responses rather than being markers for some underlying disease or illness. Mental disorders represent shades in the spectrum of human experience, which comprise a subjective and objective sense of self and a subjective and objective sense of community. ...

In this assignment, based on these definitions, some foundation information will be provided on anorexia nervosa as a mental illness in adults, so a portfolio work can be built with the objective to learn the health and social issues involving adults affected with these problems.

Anorexia Nervosa: Eating disorders are one of the most common forms of mental health problem and are associated with increased risk to life. Anorexia nervosa (AN) is probably the better-known type of eating disorder, and also the easier one to recognize. Its core characteristic is an irresistible urge to strive for thinness. The most common mental health problems in clinical practice are depression, eating disorders and anxiety disorders. The mortality rate is very high for eating disorders. Anorexia, when it is simply a physical symptom, can be caused by a range of problems, not necessarily psychological, which is why when it is part of an eating disorder, it is often called anorexia nervosa, in order to distinguish it. The overwhelming majority of people with eating disorders are heterosexual women. Usually anorexia nervosa is associated with the fear of getting fat. This is an important feature of the differential diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual IV (DSM IV) for anorexia (World Health Organisation, 1992).

History: The connections between the society we live in and the roles we are expected to play in it clearly affect how we think about ourselves and how we behave. Until the 19th century, "anorexia" was considered a symptom of several physical and emotional disorders. But for centuries, voluntary abstention from food was not primarily a pathological phenomenon.